Pack It Up

The focus of this week was to get packed and ready to go on our cruise.
One of the worst parts of traveling is figuring out what to take, trying to keep it minimal, but have everything needed for the trip.  "If you want to get away from it all, don't take it all with you."  - Anne McAlpin 


Also putting it in the suitcase so it doesn't get wrinkled is an art.
I don't do art, of any kind, very well.
But, I gave it the old college try.

Saturday 2/8 - My day started with heart breaking news.  Kent's 37 year old brother Ben, who has been fighting pancreatic cancer for almost a year, passed away early this morning.  Amidst the grief, I know there is a feeling of relief that Ben's pain and suffering has come to an end, and there's even relief that the anguish for his caretakers is over.  Caring for Bed had to have been mentally and physically exhausting and I'm sure it was terrifying to watch him suffer and slowly lose his battle to cancer.  However, this relief does not lessen the devastation and intense sadness caused by the death of Ben, who was loved very dearly.  This had me reflecting on the the conundrum of feeling loss and relief  simultaneously (AARP article).  And then part of processing Ben’s death had me working through the death of those I’ve loved and revisiting those feelings.  The old grief comes back and I contemplated, is this pain unwanted baggage?  I'd rather see it as - it is good to stir up the old, wonderful memories.  I guess we have to decide which emotions to pack up and take with us. 

While Dan and Vale were packing up to come here, I was hustling to get the upstairs ready for them and all the bathrooms clean and do some dusting.  Mama Styx thought making their bed was great fun.  

The Murfreesboro Villhauer family arrived at 11:00.  Once settled in, we had lunch and then some play time. 









Chasing bubbles on the back deck. 




But the wind created some problems, so Maggie decided sticks were a better thing to go after.

We went out to the ranch at 1:00 and Ava helped with feeding the horses in the lower paddock. 








Saying hi to Cowboy who was at his feeding station. 





Giving Banner his food bucket. 








And getting a photo, or two with him while he ate. 
 




Zorro and Amiga were in their stalls eating, and then we pulled Zorro out and got him brushed and saddled. 










Dan supervised Ava while she helped with grooming Zorro.  But, like with me, it was not her favorite part of this 'horsing around' process.




I got on Zorro first and had Patty lead him around to see if he was calm enough for Ava.  Yep, so she was put on in front of me.  








Patty led Zorro around once in both directions. 







And we stopped to pose for a photo. 

Then I hopped off and lead Zorro to give Patty a break and let Ava ride all by herself.  No doubt about it, as you can see from these photos, Ava was having a great time.
 

And she started giving me directions.

  
 

Need I say more? 
Ava's face says it all!
So do these (videos). 










I was getting bored with circles in the round pen, as I'm sure Zorro and Ava were also, so we ventured out, going around it and then went into the woods. 





Dan, Patty, and Joe accompanied us and took photos. 

I like this photo because you can't see me and it looks like Ava is riding out all on her own.  We had stopped to look at the face on the tree. 

We proceeded on down the trail, under the tower and out onto the road.  And once back into the barnyard, Ava wanted to do it again.  So we did.  


Ava was enjoying the ride and it was good exercise for Zorro and I. 








Once un-tacked and finished up at the barn, I went up to feed Dorado and Rico while the others took care of the chickens. 
Rico peeking in at me in the feed room, filling feed buckets. 




Ava helped Patty with the chickens and Dan took these photos. 






Gloria is the friendliest of the chickens, and easy to catch, so Ava got to meet her up close. 






Brooke sent this photo of her horse Banner meeting her new born son Raylan, earlier this morning. 













Once home, there was a few hours to relax and play before dinner.  Joe cooked stir-fry on his flat-top and I made salad and baked garlic bread. 





We had the customary dance party a little while after dinner, and then because Ava hadn't napped, it was early to bed for her.  I was ready to pack it in for the day and soon hit the hay also.

Sunday 2/9 - Ava and I were the first two up, along with the dogs of course.  It had stormed over night and yesterday's 60° weather was now down in the 40s.  











Ava has a lot of wild and crazy little girl energy, which made Maggie (and the cats who hid out) a bit nervous.  Ava was learning to be calm and quiet with Maggie.   

Oops, I forgot to post this yesterday and it is too difficult to go back and add it in.  Ava (and Dan) helped Papaw take some hay from the shop to the upper paddock. 












It was overcast and cold, but when the sun did finally come out for a few hours, Ava took advantage of it and played out on our back deck (video).

And then Joe and Dan took Ava to a nearby park. 














I love this cool swing for a big 'kid' and a little kid.  





Vale and I had stayed home, resting along with the dogs.  And I put the frozen lasagna in the oven and made a toss salad. 







Monita watches from a safe distance as Ava had a snack and Vale read. 

Patty came over and joined us for an early 2:00 dinner.

While Joe and Ava napped, we four played a board game where you try to guess colors based on clues a player gives. 




Dan started packing up to go around 4pm and Patty left.  Ava protested having to leave, the whole time Dan gathered up all their belongings.  When given the choice to stay with us when Mom and Dad went home, she decided to go.  But with many tears she said good-bye, and off they went. 

Joe hit the Mancave to watch the Superbowl and I proceeded to get the house back in order (toys away, strip beds and clean up where needed, breakables back out).  I was in bed listening to my I-pad audio book before the game was over. 

Monday 2/10 - It was in the 30s and there was actually some ice on the decks when I walked Maggie and later put out corn and bird seed. 

Notice the doe up on the golf course running to join the others down at the corn.  And below you can see her (circled in yellow) jumping over the creek. 

Then a buck came and scared off most of the doe (video).

I did two loads of laundry and spent the bulk of the morning working on this blog, getting it started and caught up from the weekend. 

I met Betty at the ranch at 12:30 and we went for an hour and 45 minute ride, covering six miles.  Rico continues to be a bit sluggish and got out of breath on two large hills.  We will continue conditioning rides to get him (and Dorado) back into shape. 

It was on the cool side, but we had dressed warmly so it wasn't bad.  When we were in the sunshine, it felt quite nice. 



Amiga has been 'off' the last few days and I wondered if she had tweaked something, slipping in the mud out in the paddock.  Karen fed today, and was just finishing up when we got back to the barn.  She said Amiga was barely putting weight on her front left leg. 



Yep, Amiga was really lame now, so I got her set up with hay and water in the back of the large loafing shed for overnight, since it was supposed to rain much of the night.  She had plenty of room to move about but could rest as much as she wanted.

I got home for a late dinner.  Afterwards I couldn't get motivated to start packing and I actually wound up going to bed fairly early.

Tuesday 2/11 - It stormed over night and was still raining hard much of the morning (all day actually).  I went to the ranch at 7:30 to check on Amiga.  She was walking much better, but I still gave her a Previcox, which can't be given within two hours of the Osteo Max which she gets in her feed in the afternoon. I also decided to soaked her foot in Epson salt just in case she has an abscess going on.  She stood quietly for 20 minutes, only lifting her foot out of the bucket twice when I left her side.  So I brushed and loved on her most of the time.

Banner was nowhere to be seen when I got Amiga from the shed, but Cowboy and Zorro were taking cover from the rain in there.  When I brought Amiga back out in the paddock, she went all the way out into the back field, looking for the boys, all of whom were standing in the shed.  I was relieved to see she was walking quite well.  But poor Banner was shivering, and the boys kept running him back out into the rain.  So I shut him in where Amiga had been and gave him hay. 

I mucked while Banner ate quietly.  I also watched Amiga return back from the pasture, since she couldn't find the boys and Zorro had hollered for her a few times.  Thank God, she was still walking without favoring the sore leg very much.  Once I had the wheelbarrow load of manure dumped, I put hay in the shed for the other three, because they were all very wet and needed a break from the rain.
 

Pack it up - the wedding dress Mom (1948) and I (1980) wore.

From the ranch I went to Boyd Eye Care to pick up my two (driving and reading) pair of glasses, and while there, I had my transition lens bifocals adjusted for a tighter fit. 
 

Once home, I scrambled to get this 77 year old wedding dress ready to be mailed.



I followed the instructions I'd found on the internet.

The train was longer than the clear plastic bag, so I put the whole roll in a black trash bag to protect it if the box got wet.  The roll was a bit long for the box, but I got it into this xerox paper box.  And off to the post office I rushed, thinking they closed at noon. 







The postal worker and I decided to cut the box down 2" to save $40.00.  But then we had to really smash the roll to get the lid on. 
 



The package couldn't be insured for more than the standard $100 because I had no proof of value.  We both agreed, it was priceless anyway.

I went home to change into gym clothes and then turned right back around to go workout. 




Skipping part of my exercise and all of my stretch routine, I was then scampering home, threw jeans on over my tights, grabbed an extra hoodie, and was back off to the ranch to do chores.  Things were quite soggy, including the horses.  And there was a lot of manure in all of the sheds to clean up.  Amiga was still walking fairly well so I didn't close her in and hoped Banner could find a spot in the shed with the other three.

Wednesday 2/12 - Up early, I had a lot of quiet time at my computer.  For awhile Mama Styx encumbered my left hand, lying on that arm, so blog typing was slower than usual.  I barely got Wordle guessed today.  Also did some other games, waiting for Joe to get up. 

Once Joe was up at 8am, I started in on the packing process.  I cleaned up my new (thrift store) suitcase and put water proof spray on the leather bottom of my backpack.  Then I started going through all the stuff (everything but clothes) I would need and deciding which was carry on and which went in the suitcase.  And I selected two 'purses,' day and evening.

By mid-afternoon, the 'style' show started, as I tried on any outfit I thought about packing, even five different swim suits (three of which I would take).  The clothing demo 'runway' was from my closet to the bathroom mirror.  Ughh!  Why I think this old body should have a slimmer waistline, I do not know.  Several things needed washing, so I also got two loads of laundry done. 





I secretly packed up 'wrapped' a little Valentine gift I had bought for Joe.  He helped me put flea meds on the three cats after I had trimmed all of their nails.  Then he left for poker (after 4pm) and my little 'style show continued until 6:00 when I finally finished.  The fur babies and I had a late dinner.  I listened to my audio book, trying to get it finished before it expired.  I wanted to start a new one for the cruise.  I also packed a new paperback for beach and pool time.  I neatened up the house, ran the dishwasher, sent Karen the cat care instructions, and got their food and litter supplies filled and handy.  I was in bed, nodding off to sleep before finishing another chapter of my book.

Thursday 2/13 - Today I would pack it up and be ready to leave for our cruise by early Friday morning.  I was relieved to see that the rains (constant for two FULL days) was finally over, for the time being. 

I kept busy crossing things off my to-do list, and then hit the gym for three hours, including a shower.  Right after dinner when I went to put everything in my suitcase, I discovered that a cat had peed on my pile of socks! 



Over a week ago, when I had set my gym bag on the table, a cat had peed on it.  Well, &%#@%.   What is going on?  When I posted this first photo, I zoomed in on the socks and noticed that I had set my workout gloves right by them, as a last minute thought to take.  Is it something about the gym smell, or was it a protest to my leaving?





I threw the bed spread and socks into the washer and got it started.  Then I packed up my suitcase and carry on backpack.  Thank goodness it was just the socks that got pissed on, and not a larger pile of nicer clothes.

I cleaned my office and laundry room (where the litter boxes are) real well because litter gets tracked out on the floor.  I got a new screen protector put on my phone, and moved the wash into the drier.  My audio book, which I had been trying to finish, still had nearly three more hours left.  The drier buzzed while I was brushing my teeth, so I put the spread on the bed and packed my pile of socks into my suitcase.  I listened to my book until 11pm. 

Friday 2/14  - Happy Valentine's Day! 

Late to bed and early to rise had me short on sleep.  The moon was nearly full, and shining bright. 


We depart at 7:30, picking up Shirley, and then Patty and Judy.  Joe will be driving us to the Nashville airport in the truck.  I am so ready to go, in more ways than just being packed up.  The weather has gotten quite cold again and is predicted to stay this way most of the week.  Warm, sunny Caribbean, here we come!